1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a method and system for tracking media access on a portable device, and in particular correlating information on the media content with the location of the portable device used to access the media content.
2. Background
Media is everywhere—people seem to constantly watch television, listen to the radio, or play video games. For example, it seems that everywhere you turn there is a television—in houses, in bars and restaurants, and even in building lobbies. But which people are watching which shows?
Information on the number of people accessing media can be very valuable. Services such as Nielsen Media Research and Arbitron measure the size of audiences and, in turn, audience size can be used, for example, to set advertising rates and to assist in an analysis of consumers and media markets.
A question remains, however, as to exactly who is watching the televisions, listening to the radios, and playing the games. For example, different family members—such as a grandparent, parent, teenager, and child—each spanning radically different demographics, can each watch the same television in a house. Similarly, if a television is in a bar or a building lobby, how can anyone—such as advertisers, marketers, or content providers—be sure who is watching that television? Moreover, those people watching television in a bar or a building lobby do not generally control what media is being shown. Therefore, even if an advertiser, marketer, or content provider knew who was watching the televisions in such places, it would still be unknown whether the viewers would choose access the same media if they had control over what they were watching.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have more detailed information on who is accessing what media and where such people are accessing that media. Advertisers and marketers can then, for example, more specifically target advertising and other content toward those people. For instance, if a content provider knew that a large number of people were accessing certain media (for example, watching or listening to a certain program) in a particular location, the content provider could then more specifically understand the market for that content and could target advertising and other content in that location. Similarly, it could be advantageous to know which media particular people access. If advertisers, marketers, or content providers knew exactly which people watch a certain television show, for instance, the advertisers, marketers, or content providers could use that information to more specifically understand the market for that content, target advertising or other content to those people, etc.
Portable devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), and other devices capable of receiving media content, can provide individuals with control over which media content to watch or listen to. As technology improves, the ability of these portable devices to present media content also improves. Thus, more and more users of portable devices are accessing media on these devices. Unlike television viewers in a bar or building lobby, each user of a portable device has control over and can decide which media content to access. Moreover, each user of a portable device can access media in different locations.
Thus, there is a need for a way to track information related to a person's media access, including the location of that person while accessing that media.